On March 21st Khamenie delivered a New Year's address at the biggest mosque in Iran. [1]

"First I will present a brief report of the year 1389 [= 2010-2011]: I will consider the issue from a broad perspective and explain the orientation of the Iranian nation and officials in the year 1389.

"Then I will speak about the new year [2011-2012], which starts from today. I will speak about this year's slogan - namely, "Economic Jihad" - and the appropriate measures that should be taken.

"In the third part of my speech I will speak about the regional issues: the issues of the Middle East, North Africa and the events that are happening in this Islamic region. I will discuss these [regional] issues in the light of the hypocrisy and plots of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah [= Islamic peoples wordwide]."

As regards 1389: "In the area of advanced science and technology, I would tell you that what we have achieved in the country is far more than what the people know about."

"Fortunately one can see that our scientists and youth are making accelerated progress in different areas - in biotechnology, in aerospace technology, in nanotechnology, in stem cell research, in producing crucial radiopharmaceuticals, in producing antineoplastic drugs, in producing wind turbines which decrease the country's dependence on oil to a large extent, in building supercomputers which are extremely important for the country, in technologies related to new sources of energy."

As regards 1390:

"...experts believe that at this point in time economic issues are more important and more urgent than all other issues of the country."

"In this regard the important criterion is the accelerated economic growth which has been specified in the fifth development plan - a growth of at least 8 percent.

Productivity should be a large portion of this growth. That is to say, we should be able to utilize the country's facilities in a better way."

"I recommend that our government officials speak to the people about the importance of increasing the share of productivity in total economic growth of the country.

They should tell the people how important it is to increase the share of productivity in economic growth of the country and

how important it is to decrease the difference between the income of the poor and the rich. Such differences are not favorable to us. Islam does not approve of such differences. They should try to do these things according to the fifth development plan."

"If we want this great economic movement to take place in our country in the year 1390, certain requirements should be met. I would like to briefly mention these requirements.

First of all, it is necessary to have the spirit of jihad. Since the beginning of the Revolution up until now, our people have been successful whenever they have entered the arena with the spirit of jihad."

"The second requirement is to strengthen spirituality and the spirit of religious faith in society."

"The next requirement is that the country should not be distracted by side issues."

"Preserving unity and national solidarity is another requirement."

"If they [government officials] have issues with one another, they should try to avoid making these issues public because this would be detrimental to our national unity. Everybody should pay attention to this point. I seriously warn our government officials about this issue. Our government officials may have issues with one another - this has always been the case. As a person who has been involved in such issues, I have been witness to such disagreements since the beginning of the Revolution."

"...they should not make their issues public. They should not disturb the mental and emotional peace of the people."

"In general, neither an economic sanctions regime nor the military option seems to be the optimal solution to the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program.

"The status quo achieves nothing but more economic hardship for Iranian citizens without effectively altering their leaders’ strategic calculus.

"Instead, the United States and Europe should focus on carrots, emphasizing how Iran can reverse decades of investment vacuum and economic isolation if it chooses a more moderate path.

No major policy shift is expected unless and until the West realizes that Iran has achieved sufficient level of development and international cooperation to ameliorate the effects of, if not totally counter, any set of unilateral sanctions by major powers.

So far, the West has not provided Iran with real incentives to alter its nuclear policy such as meaningful technological and financial assistance."

This clever-r-r chit-chat was refuted in March by Khamenie:

"Our nation saw that the entire world, led by America, was protesting against Iran's nuclear program. They imposed sanctions on us. They threatened us with military attacks. They threatened that they would attack our country. Not only did our government officials not retreat, but they also increased our nuclear facilities by several times each year against the wish of the enemy.

"In Libya the people saw their government officials get rid of all their nuclear facilities in the face of western threats, or what they call 'western incentives.'

Just the way you give a lollipop to a child, westerners gave 'incentives' to them [Libyan government officials] and they gave up everything. The Libyan people saw this happening, which filled their hearts with sorrow and hurt their pride.

The same thing can be seen in all the countries whose people have revolted against their governments."

"But we also utterly condemn the interference of America and westerners in Libya. They claim that they want to enter Libya or carry out military operations to defend the people. This is not at all acceptable. It is one month that the people of Libya are being bombed. If you truly support the Libyan people, if you really care about the Libyan people, you should help them. You should provide them with weapons. You should give them the facilities they need. You should provide them with anti-aircraft weapons.

Instead of doing these things, they [Khamenie is alluding to the antics of the Chinese and Russians in the Security Council] stood by and watched the people being killed for one month.

Now they want to step in. Therefore, you have not come to defend the people. You are after Libya's oil. You want to establish a foothold in Libya. You want to use Libya as a foothold in order to monitor the future revolutionary governments of Egypt and Tunisia, which are located on the east and west of Libya. Your intention is evil. We do not agree with the action taken by westerners, who are led by America. The United Nations, which should serve the interests of nations, has unfortunately turned into a tool in the hands of these people. It just provides what they need [= cover]. This is a disgrace for the United Nations. Therefore, the presence of foreign powers and westerners in Libya is totally unacceptable. If they want to help the people of Libya, the door is open: they can help and equip the people, and the people will settle their issues with Gadhafi and others. Why do you enter Libya?"